Hlybochok (Glybochok, Glubochek) | Zhytomyr

Execution of Jews in Glybochok

2 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:: Ravine (1); Bank of the river(2)
Memorials:: Yes
Period of occupation:: 1941-1943
Number of victims:: 41

Witness interview

Ivan N., born in 1932, describes the beginning of the occupation: “The Germans arrived in June one and a half weeks after the start of the war. The German scouts arrived, they were in Soviet uniforms. They checked the area for the presence of soldiers. But our soldiers left to Novohrad and Zhytomyr. After, the Germans arrived on bicycles, but they didn’t stay here. Just Broner, Nolda from Baranivka, and the police were coming to the village. They appointed new starosta, secretaries. They collected milk. All the villagers were told to bring cattle to kolkoz. Broner checked every cow. Our family had a good cow but there were also skinny ones. They were each marked with a cross. My mother worried that they would take our cow, but Broner just said that it was a good one. They took all the skinny cows and left us the good ones.”(Testimony n°1652, interviewed in Hlybochok, on April 30,2013)

Historical note

Hlybochok is a village, located 35 km south-west of Zhytomyr. The earliest known Jewish community in Hlybochok dates back to 1926. That year, the Jewish population was 80 people. The majority of Jews lived in the nearby village of Pershotravensk (Pervomaisk) where they worked at the military porcelain factory. Other Jews lived off small scale trade and handcraftsmanship. The Jewish children went to school with the non-Jews. According to the local witness, there was no synagogue. The village was occupied in early July 1941. By that time, almost half of the prewar Jews, especially those who worked at the administration and high position at the factory, were evacuated.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The anti-Jewish measures were implemented one month after the occupation. According to the archives, the 13 remaining Jews families from Pershotravensk were exterminated in August 1941. While 40 men were taken to the ravine and shot, women with children were displaced to the Baranivka ghetto, where they were most likely shot either during the Aktion that took place late August 1941 or in the early January 1941. Most likely the execution was conducted by the same SD unit that operated in Baranivka.

For more information about the shootings in Baranivka please refer to the corresponding profile.

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